


Two Branches in the Wind

by poppyfields



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Bokuto Koutarou Being Bokuto Koutarou, Canon Compliant, Crush at First Sight, Crushes, Cute, Developing Relationship, First Love, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Funny, Love at First Sight, M/M, Pre-Canon, Romance, Slow Burn, Slow Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:13:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27950573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poppyfields/pseuds/poppyfields
Summary: Since the day they met Akaashi and Bokuto had a special kind of connection. Though that doesn't mean falling in love was easy. And actually getting together? They say opposites attract, and it's true, but that attraction comes with hosts of miscommunications, misunderstandings, and general misfortune.Luckily in Bokuaka's case, this only manifests as cute and funny stories they will one day tell at their wedding, at least in this fic.Love at first sight doesn't mean it's not a slow burn.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, Kozume Kenma & Kuroo Tetsurou
Comments: 17
Kudos: 66





	1. The First Moments

The first conversation they’d ever had was a brief introduction in the gym. After the coach had adjourned their meeting but before the start of Akaashi’s first ever practice with the school. If, in the future, you asked them what it was, Bokuto would be stumped. Akaashi would tell you he had no idea either, but he would be lying. He could easily recite it word for word.

“Welcome to the team! I’m Bokuto, the ace,” it was the same line he had repeated to every other first year before he reached Akaashi.  
“I know,” Akaashi had mumbled.  
“You know?”  
If someone had to pinpoint the exact moment Akaashi became Bokuto’s favourite person on the planet this would probably be it. He had never had someone he didn’t know recognize him before. It was his first fan. His eyes were wide and almost wild with excitement as he stared at Akaashi. It made the first year wish he had never spoke.

“Well, I saw one of your games last year,” Akaashi had originally planned to add a “you were really good”, but the way Bokuto was looking at him, after only hearing that he had seen him play, made Akaashi think he would probably explode if he complimented him, too.  
“Wow! I always said I was gonna be famous one day,” Bokuto wrapped a heavy arm around Akaashi’s shoulders, “I had no idea I already was.”  
This was when Akaashi heard Bokuto laugh for the first time. If someone had to pinpoint the exact moment Akaashi first realised the beefy spiker he’s been crushing on for months was actually a complete dumbass, this would be it. Still, he was a lovable dumbass, and Akaashi couldn’t help but feel content under his arm.

From that point on Bokuto would often look to the new setter when he did something impressive. He was convinced that since Akaashi had remembered him he must have been amazed by the game. He was right in that assumption, but Akaashi was still annoyed by it. He tried his best to have as neutral a reaction as he possibly could every time Bokuto looked at him. After about a month, Akaashi realised it wasn’t going to stop. 

In that month, Akaashi began to resent Bokuto. It grew out of embarrassment. He thought if Bokuto knew how much he enjoyed the match, he probably knew that was why Akaashi had come to Fukurodani, he probably knew that he liked him. When he would grin that “I’m the greatest” grin every time Akaashi even came close to complimenting him, it felt like he was laughing at Akaashi’s feelings. When he asked Akaashi, “did you see that?” every time he did something impressive, it felt like a dig on the fact that Akaashi would certainly be dreaming of that moment for the next 3-4 business days. Everything Bokuto did felt like he was rubbing Akaashi’s crush in his face, so naturally, everything Bokuto did started to make Akaashi angry.

Honestly, by the time his first month in high school was over, Akaashi was struck with a wave of depression. He’d convinced his parents to send him to this private school, despite the tuition, which, while not outrageous, was nothing to scoff at, thinking he would join the volleyball team, become starting setter immediately, befriend all his teammates and classmates, and maybe even make Bokuto fall in love with him. Though he knew the Bokuto thing was probably a stretch, he’d be just as happy just to be friends, just to play alongside him. It turned out it was unrealistic either way.

Now, a month into his first year, he wasn’t playing starter. Even in practice games he often had to play a different position to let someone else practice setting. He was still just as socially awkward as he’d been in middle school, so he hadn’t made any new friends. He talked to almost no one in his class, it seemed all of them knew each other from middle school or elementary and had no need for new friends, especially one as cold as Akaashi. The worst part, of course, was Bokuto. Not only had he realised Akaashi’s feelings faster than should even be considered possible, but he was using them against him, turning them into some sick, twisted joke. At least that’s what Akaashi thought was happening.

For Bokuto, this month was a delight. With the seniors from last year graduated, he was getting even more time on the court. The convenience store by his house had just restocked his favourite brand of ice cream, the kind they only sold when the weather was nice. He found out, after a year of wearing them, that his uniform pockets weren’t actually fake and that they were just sewn together. Plus, he loved the new setter on the team. What was his name, Akashi? He was smart and cool and he didn’t seem to think Bokuto was just some big joke. He’d even known his name before they met. 

It wasn’t much longer before Akaashi realised how wrong he was about Bokuto.

* * *

It was a somewhat chilly day for May in Tokyo, only about ten degrees above, but Akaashi was still having lunch out in the courtyard. It was better than in his classroom, painfully aware of the many conversations he was not invited to join. The day before he must have looked so lonely it was pitiful, because a girl who clearly did not want to be friends with him had come up and asked if he wanted to have lunch with her and her friends. It became even worse when he walked over and the three girls she was sitting with looked like they were even less excited about his intrusion then their friend had been. He hoped to never have an interaction like that again.

He was almost grateful it was cold, he wouldn’t have to worry about anyone else wanting to eat out there too. No one sane at least.

“Hey hey hey!”  
Akaashi felt his heart plummet. He should have just had lunch with the pity girls.  
“Akashi, what are you doing on my favourite bench?” the tone was meant to be teasing among friends, but Akaashi didn’t think of Bokuto as his friend.  
“I’m sorry, I’ll leave,” he replaced the lid on his bento and prepared to push himself off the seat.  
“No, wait,” Bokuto’s hands were suddenly on Akaashi’s shoulders, holding him down, “This is perfect, we can have lunch together.”

Akaashi cursed himself for being so non-confrontational. He wished he could just say no. For that matter he wished he could tell Bokuto to stop being such a dick. He couldn’t though, he wasn’t the type to. Instead, he just sat there as Bokuto took his place beside him, already rambling about how “it wasn’t really that cold” and how none of his classmates would come out with him because “they’re all afraid of a little wind.”

“I come out every day while the cherry blossoms are out,” he told Akaashi proudly, “If I don’t I regret it all year.”  
Akaashi watched him out of the side of his eye as he reopened his bento. He wasn’t going to say anything. Maybe he could give Bokuto the cold shoulder and he would eventually get the hint.  
He didn’t though. In fact, Akaashi wasn’t sure Bokuto realised at all. He was more than happy to hold the conversation himself.  
“It always goes by so quickly, don’t you think Akashi? I mean in anime the cherry blossoms are always blooming, but in real life it’s like, what? A month? Not even sometimes, last year they didn’t come until the end of April and they were already gone by now. I think they’ll stay longer this year, but you never know. That’s why you have to come out to see them every time.”  
Akaashi couldn’t believe he was still talking, and it seemed like he had no intention to stop.  
“Where I grew up, there’s, like, no cherry blossoms. When I came to Tokyo, I came to Tokyo when I was twelve, for middle school, so it was April, so the cherry blossoms hadn’t come out yet, but once they did, they were, like, everywhere and I was like, “woah!” Did you grow up in Tokyo, Akashi? I’m always jealo-”  
“It’s Akaashi,” Akaashi cut him off, mid sentence.  
Bokuto looked over in surprise, and Akaashi thought maybe the cold tone had done the job. Maybe he would realise Akaashi was not interested in this conversation, was not interested in having lunch with him. Maybe he would stop.  
Instead, he grabbed Akaashi’s shoulder.  
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” he looked genuinely worried, genuinely scared, like hurting Akaashi, making him feel unimportant or forgotten, was the last thing he wanted to do. Then, he smiled, a caring, kind smile that would be impossible to fake, “I’m bad with names. Remind me if I ever forget again.”

Akaashi felt strange. Strange in that, he didn’t feel angry. He couldn’t. For the first time since their first conversation, Akaashi couldn’t feel any sort of irrational rage towards Bokuto. Something about the way he instantly apologized, the way he seemed to feel genuine remorse. Maybe he was a good guy after all. Maybe he hadn’t made it his life mission to play with Akaashi’s emotions.

“ _Akaashi_ ,” Bokuto said with a grin, as if showing off his new skill, “did you grow up in Tokyo?”

Without the resentment he’d grown over the past month, Akaashi had nothing to distract from the way his heart skipped. The way his name had sounded so sweet coming out of Bokuto’s mouth. The way his wide, giddy smile, reminded Akaashi of the first crush he’d ever had. The way his eyes sparkled when he looked at him. Without anger and resentment and embarrassment and pride, Akaashi was left with nothing more than his feelings. Still, disappointingly, as strong as the day he’d first seen Bokuto.

“I did,” Akaashi mumbled, turning his eyes to his lunchbox in hopes that it would slow his racing heartbeat.  
“Wow! I’m always jealous of people who grew up in Tokyo, my friend Kuroo…”  
Again Bokuto was rambling, and Akaashi hoped he wouldn’t have to speak again for a while. He was having trouble thinking straight.

* * *

Bokuto had really enjoyed his lunch with the new setter.  
“Akaashi,” he reminded himself quietly as he walked through the halls back to his classroom.  
He’d liked him since they met, but he liked everyone, that didn’t make everyone his friend. Akaashi was his friend now though, wasn’t he? Maybe they could keep having lunch like that. Bokuto had blamed it on the cold, but he knew there was more than one reason why the people in his grade didn’t love eating lunch with him. He got along well with everyone, or he thought he did, but he knew he was a lot for some people. He knew he had a bad habit of monopolizing conversations. He hoped he hadn’t done that with Akaashi just now.

When he burst into his classroom everyone smiled. They asked him how his lunch was, they asked him if the cherry blossoms had changed much since the last time he went out. He knew they were teasing him, but he laughed with them anyway. It was just teasing among friends. When Bokuto took his seat near the back of class the boys around him filled him in on the funny story he’d missed over lunch, which more or less boiled down to Ishigami falling down the stairs. Bokuto laughed with them, and responded with the story of the last time he’d fallen down the stairs. They didn’t laugh as hard at his story, apparently he’d told it before.

The teacher came in just in time to stop him from telling another story he’d told before. The class was interesting, or it might have been. Bokuto always felt bad saying class was boring just because he was bored. He knew it wasn’t the teacher’s fault, and it probably wasn’t math’s fault. It was his fault for getting distracted, for not paying attention, for being hyperactive. Interesting or not, Bokuto was lost in his own thoughts from lunch until school ended. Only one thing stuck in his head from the entire lesson.

“Akaashi! Akaashi!” Bokuto ran into the gym for after school practice and found the setter right inside the door, “They _can_ fly!”  
Akaashi just stared at him, bewildered.  
“Do you remember what I was saying at lunch?” Bokuto asked.  
Eyebrows knotting, Akaashi skimmed through the fifty minutes of uninterrupted nonsense that Bokuto had spewed on him over their break for something that might be the “they” that either could or couldn’t fly. He couldn’t find anything.  
“You were eating chicken, so we were talking about chickens,” Bokuto reminded him, “and I said I thought they could fly but you said they were flightless.”  
Akaashi thought back. If he was remembering correctly it was more Bokuto rambling on about how he’d heard both and didn’t know what to believe. He’d asked Akaashi, who just sort of shrugged and grunted. He’d never thought of it. Apparently in Bokuto’s world that meant he had strongly defended the flightless argument, or, he was willing to bet, whichever argument ended up losing.

“Well, in class today my teacher said they can fly, just not for very long.”  
Akaashi hummed, which Bokuto figured could mean a lot of things, but he would take it as “Oh my god, that’s so interesting Bokuto. I was torn up about it all afternoon and I’m so glad you shared this with me.”

“Yeah, I thought of you the second he said it.”  
Akaashi looked up at him for just a second, eyes almost betraying his pleasure at hearing that, before resuming his casual nonchalance, looking down at his knuckles.  
“For a second I thought I should text you, but I don’t even have your number!”

Akaashi’s heart skipped again. Was this Bokuto’s way of asking for his number? He might be smoother than Akaashi gave him credit for.  
“One time, I got a new phone, and I forgot my friend’s number, so I tried to text every number I could think of and see if I would find him.”  
_Ah, no,_ Akaashi realised, _he was just rambling again._  
“Did you know there are, like, millions of phone numbers? Even in Tokyo alone! I guess it makes sense because there’s millions of people, but-”  
“Do you want my number?” Akaashi interrupted.  
He would normally be embarrassed to be so forward, but he doubted Bokuto would interpret it as flirting. He didn’t think Bokuto was all that sensitive to subtext. Maybe that was a good thing, Akaashi had never loved subtext himself.

* * *

After that day, especially after exchanging numbers, they became, at least in Bokuto’s eyes, friends. They did end up eating lunch together the next day, and the day after that. Akaashi thought Bokuto’s company was better than silence, and it was certainly better than the pity of his classmates. They sat on the same bench, eating and talking. Slowly Akaashi got better at interrupting when he had something to say, so their conversations adopted a sort of rhythm, despite still being about 90/10 in Bokuto’s favour. 

Akaashi started to realise, though Bokuto certainly saw life very simply, very differently than Akaashi, he wasn’t actually stupid. Sometimes the things he said struck Akaashi as so ridiculous he didn’t know how an actual person could think them, but sometimes they were strangely profound. He could make things that plagued Akaashi, things he’d just accepted were too complex to be understood, into something so simple Akaashi thought maybe he was the stupid one. And, when he talked about things he really cared about, like volleyball, he got this passion in his voice that Akaashi couldn’t help but envy.

“And next year, I’m going to be the captain!” Bokuto announced one day as they were eating, “I’ll be the captain and the ace! And we’re gonna go to nationals!”  
Akaashi tried to cover his small smile by eating. Something about the way his senpai smiled, the way his eyes glowed, made Akaashi believe him.  
“And I’ll get to find out what the benches at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium feel like,” Akaashi smirked.  
Bokuto looked at him as if personally offended. As if Akaashi had just insulted his own mother.  
“Are you kidding?” he seemed even more passionate than before, “You won’t be a bench warmer, you’ll be starting setter!”  
It was weird to be scolded and complimented at the same time. He hoped he wasn’t visibly blushing.  
“I think you should be starting now,” Bokuto continued, “The captain just wants to play with all his third year friends, that’s the only reason you’re not. You’re definitely the best setter on the team, though. If I had it my way, well, I guess I will once I become captain, but when I do, you’ll be the only one tossing to me!”

He said the last line with a cheesy grin that was impossible not to be flustered by. It was so cheesy and embarrassing and not at all charming and adorable that Akaashi ended up choking on his rice. That made Bokuto panic, and he offered Akaashi a sip of his drink. Akaashi took it, expecting water and instead getting a sickeningly sweet blue soda that almost made him choke a second time, but when he had calmed down, Bokuto was smiling again.

“I mean it Akaashi,” he insisted, “your tosses are the best.”  
It was a simple phrase. Akaashi had been told the same thing before by his teammates in middle school. He was sure almost every setter had heard it from at least one hitter before. It didn’t mean anything more than he was a pretty good setter. Still, with that one line Akaashi’s simple curiosity, his innocent crush, transformed into something more.

With that one line he was in love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ever since I wrote it the idea that Bokuto had his pockets sewn shut for all of first year LIVES IN MY HEAD!! I imagine him watching other boys put their hands in their pockets and he'd just like "aw man, why couldn't I get ones with pockets?" I love him.
> 
> Also if anyone was wondering Akaashi's first crush was Gon in the 1999 hxh and he was like 5 at the time.
> 
> Idk what my upload schedule will be because it's literally exam season and I should be studying even right now as I type this, but I'm excited for chapter two, it will be called "what is love".


	2. What is Love?

Bokuto loved Akaashi. Of course he did, he loved all his teammates. He loved his old friends from elementary school that he rarely saw since he moved to Tokyo. He loved his sisters, equally, even though they always tried to pressure him to reveal his favourite. He loved his parents so much Kuroo, someone who didn’t always get along with his parents, sometimes said it hurt to be around him. With that in mind he loved Kuroo, too. Bokuto was a lover, and almost all he did was love, so of course he loved Akaashi. It just maybe wasn’t the way Akaashi loved him.

The way Akaashi loved him was something else. Something even Akaashi didn’t quite understand. He’d never felt this way before, and he’d only really known Bokuto less than two months when he started feeling it. It couldn’t be love then, wasn’t that too soon to be love? The truth of the matter was, Akaashi was not an expert on this by any means. Unlike Bokuto, Akaashi didn’t love every person he was the tiniest bit fond of. He loved his parents, though he wasn’t obsessive about it. He used the word love with his grandparents, but he didn’t know if he really felt it. Other than that he’d never loved anyone, or he’d never claimed to love anyone else.

In any case, Akaashi wasn’t in a rush to label his feelings for Bokuto as love. Sure, he thought about him nearly every minute of every day. Sure, he felt his stomach lurch every time they touched. Sure, he often found himself thinking Bokuto was the only reason he went to school those days. Sure, he got depressed whenever he considered the possibility of a future where he couldn’t see Bokuto every day, where he was no longer important to him. It was still just a crush. He was fifteen years old and he was too young to know things about love or romance. What he did know was that falling in love takes longer than a month and a half, doesn’t it?

“Akaashi!” Bokuto broke from the group of second years he was walking with to catch up to his underclassman.  
Akaashi turned his head at the exact moment Bokuto’s hand dropped on his other shoulder. Just in time for his face to be mere inches from his crush’s. Akaashi immediately moved his gaze to the tile floor ahead of him.

It had been a couple weeks since they’d had that conversation in the courtyard. The one that played in Akaashi’s head on loop ever since. The one that made him realise he could probably spend a lifetime studying Bokuto’s smile.   
The cherry blossoms had all fallen and been raked off the sidewalks by this point, so they no longer had an excuse to eat lunch out there. To eat lunch together. Honestly, Akaashi had forgotten that was Bokuto’s reasoning for spending lunch out there. He’d gotten used to the lunches and sort of assumed they would just continue, but when the last tree in the courtyard had only two more branches holding on to a couple pink flowers, Bokuto sighed.

“They did stay longer, I guess,” he said with a frown, and it took Akaashi a moment to realise what he was referencing, “I told you they’d stay longer this year, didn’t I? It still goes by so quickly though, doesn’t it?”  
Akaashi hummed and nodded. His answer to both questions.   
“Well I guess it’ll be good to eat in my classroom again,” Bokuto mustered a smile, “I’m sure the guys miss me.”  
This had turned Akaashi’s head. When he first heard it it felt like a punch to the gut. When he looked back on it later he felt ridiculous. This had been the plan from the start, he should have been prepared. At that moment, though, he wasn’t. Not in the least. To hear suddenly that Bokuto wouldn’t be here the next day, wouldn’t be on their favourite bench, talking to the point that his voice became white noise, it was shocking to Akaashi. 

“Your classmates must miss you too,” Bokuto continued, “I feel bad for hogging you this long.”  
Akaashi hummed again. This time in lieu of a laugh. He felt vaguely sick. He knew his classmates didn’t miss him. He sometimes wondered if they even realised he existed. Sometimes he would raise his hand to answer a question, and if the teacher called on him, which she rarely ever did, people would look at him with a sort of confused, surprised expression that read as “oh, you’re still here?”. He liked leaving the second the bell rang for lunch, like he had somewhere to be. He didn’t know what he would do if he had to just sit at his desk the whole time. Would he remain invisible? He thought it would be worse if they started to notice him again.

Akaashi wished he had the guts to ask Bokuto to keep eating with him. He probably would have agreed, probably would have been happy Akaashi asked. Even if he did say no he probably wouldn’t judge him for asking, he wasn’t that kind of person. He was the only person Akaashi knew that didn’t pity him though. The only one who maybe thought he was somewhat interesting, somewhat cool, somewhat worthy of respect. Akaashi wouldn’t be able to take it if Bokuto looked down on him too. If he asked him to stay for lunch and he said “oh, that’s sweet, but I have other friends to eat with, don’t you?” Good god, that would crush Akaashi’s soul.

Since then they’d only seen each other at practice, or when they ran into each other in the halls, like now. Since then Akaashi ate lunch alone in the western staircase that students rarely used, where he was heading now.

“Where’re you going?” Bokuto grinned from closer to Akaashi’s ear than he needed to be.  
“To eat lunch,” Akaashi hoped he wouldn’t ask more questions.  
“Ooh, can I join?”  
Akaashi looked over his shoulder at the large group of second years Bokuto had burst from. They seemed lively and interesting. They talked and laughed loud enough that Akaashi would have given them a dirty look if they just passed by him in the halls. They seemed more like the kind of people Bokuto should hang out with.  
“What about your friends?” he asked, hoping what he was implying was clear, that he didn’t want to eat with them.  
“Ah, screw ‘em,” Bokuto looked back at his classmates with a stuck out tongue, “I spend all day with those assholes.”

Honestly Bokuto was relieved to see Akaashi in the halls that day. It was only last week they stopped eating lunch together, but he could tell his classmates were already getting tired of him again. He missed the lunches with his teammate, with his friend. He had wondered if Akaashi missed them too. 

Akaashi hesitated for a second before he agreed, “yeah, ok, let’s do it.”  
He felt a bit guilty for taking Bokuto from his friends but when your lunch hour is usually a silent pity party in the unused stairwell, you can’t in your right mind turn down an offer like this twice. He shrugged his shoulder, to get Bokuto to remove his giant arm, and they continued down the hallway side by side.

* * *

After that day they started having lunch together again. Not every day, but a couple times a week at least. Normally Bokuto would text him something about why he couldn’t have lunch with his classmates that day, why Akaashi should come meet him. Akaashi had no reason to decline. He was glad Bokuto didn’t seem to ask questions. He didn’t ask who Akaashi normally had lunch with and whether anyone cared when he had lunch with Bokuto. It would only take a couple questions like that for him to figure out he was Akaashi’s only friend. Akaashi didn’t want to know how he’d react to that.

At first, Bokuto didn’t think much of it. Not until his sister finally had to tell him to shut up about his “new friend Akaashi”. He hadn’t realised he talked about him that much, but she insisted she’d heard the name nearly a hundred times in the month since they’d become friends. He just came up a lot. How could Bokuto tell the story of their overwhelming victory in a practice game without mentioning Akaashi’s perfect toss that fuelled his strongest spike? How could he talk about the dead rat they’d seen over lunch break without mentioning how Akaashi had dragged him away before he could try touching it? Bokuto hadn’t realised it, but Akaashi had become a fundamental part of every story he told these days. 

“You must really like him, huh?” Riko, the older of his two sisters asked.  
“Well,” Koutarou considered for a second, “of course I like him, he’s my friend.”  
“You sure that’s all it is?” Miho, the younger of his sisters, pushed.  
She and Riko giggled a little.  
“What? Of course it is.”  
Koutarou didn’t even know why she was asking that. What more could it even be? Romantic? Suddenly a flood of thoughts filled Koutarou’s head. She was implying he thought of Akaashi romantically? What would that even- how would that even work? Akaashi was a boy. Even if he was the prettiest person Koutarou had ever seen. He didn’t have feelings for him, that would be...

He blushed a little at the suggestion. Only because it was so ridiculous and unexpected, his sisters found this hilarious though, and they both burst out laughing.  
“Ok, just make sure we’re invited to the wedding,” Riko teased.  
Koutarou blushed harder, “No, it’s not like that! You guys are so weird!”  
Again they only laughed.

Bokuto tried not to think about it too much. They were being stupid and teasing him, it didn’t mean anything. Of course he and Akaashi were just friends, it would be crazy to think otherwise. Akaashi definitely didn’t think otherwise, right? Still, the idea was causing Bokuto clear distress. Every time he hung out with Akaashi a tiny thought would pop into the back of his head. Is this romantic? Is my heart racing? Is that because I’m stressed or because I’m in love? How fast does my heart even beat regularly? He was beyond mad at his sisters for putting such a stupid idea in his head. For making him go crazy over absolutely nothing.

Luckily July was approaching, and just like the July before, Fukurodani, Nekoma, Shinzen and Ubugawa would hold their summer training camp. He would get to spend the whole week playing volleyball and hanging out with his friends. He was especially excited to see Kuroo again. They’d met last year as first years and quickly became close. Now, they hung out maybe once a month, but it was hard to get organised to see each other, so they’d been excited about this training camp since the first one last year.

They’d played a practice match in May, but other than that he hadn’t seen much of the new first years. Bokuto was especially excited to get to know Kenma, the new setter he’d heard Kuroo talk about since the day they’d first met. He was different from what Bokuto expected, at least so far, but he must be pretty cool the way Kuroo talked about him. Bokuto was glad their team had an impressive new setter too. He wanted to give Kenma a fair shot before he decided, but from his perspective, Akaashi was way cooler, too. 

“Don’t even try, Akaashi’s always in total control of the court,” Bokuto ranted to Kuroo the first night of the camp.  
Their debate on better setter was just getting started, but it was already just as heated as Bokuto had expected. He’d heard Kuroo’s thousands of compliments about Kenma for a year now, so he had been expecting a heavy defense, but he thought Kuroo would at least have to acknowledge how talented Akaashi was.  
“Not like Kenma,” Kuroo insisted, “Akaashi can toss, I guess, but when it comes to strategy-”  
“I’m sorry,” Bokuto interrupted, voice so loud the entire cafeteria could hear their conversation, “You guess? His tosses are amazing! Try hitting one one day and see what you say.”  
“Try hitting Kenma’s,” Kuroo defended.  
Just as Bokuto was about to give up on finding a stronger argument and just resort to physical violence, Akaashi settled into the seat beside him.  
“You guys are really embarrassing,” Kenma murmured from the other side of the table, behind Kuroo.  
Akaashi just grunted in agreement.  
“Wha- I’m defending your honour, Akaashi!” Bokuto explained.  
Akaashi just gave him a look. A tired look that made Bokuto instantly recoil like a sad puppy. Kuroo laughed.

The four of them had dinner together, Bokuto and Kuroo talking loudly as they ate and Akaashi and Kenma just silently exchanging little apologetic looks when their hitter said something stupid, or a little too loud. It was fun though. Bokuto thought Akaashi seemed to like Kuroo well enough, and Kenma seemed, well, quiet, and kind of scary. Maybe they wouldn’t hang out like this all the time, but Bokuto was still glad his friends got along. He was glad he wouldn’t have to spend the entire week choosing between them.

“Ok, we’re alone now, you can admit you think Akaashi’s awesome,” Bokuto grinned as he and Kuroo sat out on a balcony waiting to get tired enough to fall asleep.  
“You really like him, eh?” Kuroo asked.  
Bokuto cringed, wasn’t that exactly what his sister had said before. Was Kuroo thinking the same thing?  
“What? I don’t like him any more than you like Kenma.”  
Kuroo grinned, “Yeah, well, I really like Kenma.”

Bokuto paused, looking at Kuroo, at the way he smiled. He would understand, right? If he told him what was going on? They were probably in similar situations, or it seemed that way. The truth was, Bokuto was confused. He had no idea how he was feeling or what was happening and he really just wished he could tell somebody. Anybody. Kuroo seemed like the best person to tell. 

“My sisters said they thought maybe I had a crush on him,” Bokuto tried to say it as casually as he could, “Isn’t that weird?”  
Kuroo didn’t laugh, or react much at all for that matter. He just looked up at Bokuto with a kind curiosity and asked, “Do you?”  
“What?” maybe Bokuto had made a mistake telling him, “Of course not! We’re just friends.”  
Kuroo made a face that sort of said, “if you say so”. It made Bokuto panic. He brought it up because he thought Kuroo might give him some clarity, help him figure out what he was feeling. This was making him more confused.  
“We’re just friends!” Bokuto repeated, “It’s like I said, it’s like you and Kenma! You don’t have feelings for him do you?”  
Here Kuroo laughed.  
“Wait do you?” Bokuto asked again, this time less rhetorical.  
“I-” Kuroo was smiling, “I mean I wasn’t going to say anything, he doesn’t know so don’t tell him.”  
Bokuto was listening intently. Maybe he was just bad at reading people but he never would have expected this. Kuroo liked Kenma? But they were just friends, they were teammates, they were both boys, they were like him and Akaashi.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever confess or anything,” Kuroo continued, eyes turned up at the black sky, “I mean I don’t even know if he’s interested in, well me, but even like, romance in general.”  
Bokuto didn’t know what to say. He had never expected Kuroo to have these kinds of deep emotions, and for his best friend at that? Bokuto couldn’t do anything but watch in awe.  
“I mean, he still skips kiss scenes in romance movies,” Kuroo laughed, “But, I think, even if I can’t be with him, like, for real, I still can’t imagine my life without him,” he turned to Bokuto with a bright smile, “I think even if I was married and my wife was going into labour with our first child, if Kenma texted me I’d go to him.”  
Bokuto was amazed. That was the most romantic thing he’d ever heard, and it was about Kenma? The short kid who didn’t talk much? Who turned down his offer to hang out in favour of another hour of Legend of Zelda?  
“So, yeah, if you feel about Akaashi the way I feel about Kenma, I’d say your sisters are probably right.”

Bokuto didn’t know how to process this. Kuroo was in love with Kenma. Then, was he in love with Akaashi? No, that wasn’t, that couldn’t be, it wasn’t possible. And Kuroo had known Kenma for years, Bokuto and Akaashi had met like three months ago. Their relationship was different, wasn’t it?

“How did you know?” Bokuto found himself asking after seconds had passed in silence.  
“How did I know I had feelings for him?” Kuroo confirmed, “Um, I don’t know, I guess part of me always kind of knew. There was one day in middle school though, I got a love letter in my locker and it wasn’t signed but for some reason I thought maybe Kenma wrote it. He didn’t, it was some girl in my class or something, but I just got so excited thinking Kenma had confessed. I guess after that I couldn’t just pretend I liked him as a friend.”  
“A love letter?” Bokuto’s voice was much quieter than it normally was.  
“Yeah,” Kuroo smiled at him, “Like, how would you feel if Akaashi confessed to you?”

Bokuto let himself picture it. Finding a little white envelope in his locker one day. Inside would be simple stationary with Akaashi’s neat handwriting printed across it. “Dear Bokuto, I like you, let’s go out, Akaashi”. Bokuto thought Akaashi probably would be able to put it better than that. Something cool and artistic, but he couldn’t think of anything. No, if he knew Akaashi he would confess face to face. He would do it confidently and simply. Just after practice one day, or as they walked home. Of course Bokuto would accept. How could he not? Of course he would fall in love with him then. But..

“Akaashi wouldn’t do that though,” he announced, trying to snap himself from the stupid fantasy.  
“Yeah, but how would you feel if he-”  
“He wouldn’t,” Bokuto insisted, “Why would he ever confess to me? It’s not like he likes me or anything.”  
“Well,” Kuroo tried, “You never know-”  
“Stop,” Bokuto snapped, “Please, Kuroo, stop. I don’t want to do this anymore.”  
“Bokuto?”

His heart was pounding in his chest, he felt a tightening in his stomach, in his throat. He didn’t know why he’d ever let himself think it. Akaashi wasn’t going to confess. Not through a simple letter, or an elaborate one, or in person. He wasn’t going to confess because he didn’t like Bokuto. That should have been the end of the conversation. Now, thanks to his stupid curiousity, his stupid need to label every emotion he felt, Bokuto would now have to crave something he would never get. He now knew exactly how he felt about Akaashi so he could properly experience the wonderful heartbreak that came with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I ended up writing chapter two in one day lol. Idk how good it is though.  
> :/  
> Bokuto and Akaashi are cute though


	3. Progress

Sometimes things just work out perfectly. You meet someone, you immediately connect, you see each other all the time, you love each other’s company. Sometimes you fall in love with someone who feels exactly the same way, and both you and your crush realise your feelings at just the right time. This was exactly the situation Bokuto and Akaashi found themselves in the summer of 2011. They spent so much time together they started to miss each other during their hour long classes. They went to school together, had lunch together, went to practice together, and hung out when practice ended, all while being completely and mutually in love.

Sometimes things can be absolutely perfect and still go wrong.

Somehow, even being together as much as they were, and loving each other as much as they did, the summer of 2011 was when Bokuto and Akaashi’s relationship progressed the least. 

Bokuto, after just having realised his feelings, had actually become, if possible, less flirtatious with Akaashi out of self-consciousness. He purposely made it clear all his touches were just friendly. He started calling Akaashi things like “bro” and “dude” and anything else a straight guy would call his straight friend to emphasise how straight they were. He tried once to bring up girls with Akaashi, to show how straight he was, but the second the setter opened his mouth to describe his “type”, Bokuto immediately had to stop him. He thought he would cry if he heard Akaashi say he liked someone else, or _had_ ever liked anyone else, or _would_ ever like anyone else.

Akaashi had never really planned to make the first move with Bokuto. He didn’t think of himself as a “first move” kind of guy in general and he knew Bokuto wouldn’t pick up on any sort of subtle hint he might be able to drop, but after the ace’s clear indications that they were and would always be _just friends_ Akaashi had basically given up hope of dating Bokuto at all. He didn’t mind it though. It was kind of nice not to worry about romance. He got to really appreciate just being around Bokuto, listen to his stories, his jokes, get to know him better.

Frankly, the boys were happy that summer. Happy just to know each other, just to be friends. Maybe they were so happy they didn’t want to risk anything, change anything, by trying to push for something more. Soon September came, then October, and, despite their perfect situation, nothing had changed but the leaves. 

“You’ve never played Mario Kart?”   
It was well into Autumn, not by any means warm enough to warrant a meandering walk, but the two teammates were still taking their sweet time getting home after practice when Bokuto was struck with this revelation.  
“I didn’t really have video games growing up,” Akaashi explained.  
His friend was staring, mouth hanging open in exaggerated shock. They were in the middle of the city and already about three people had deviated from their paths to weave around him, but he wouldn’t move.   
“You-” Bokuto started, “We have to play!”  
“Sure,” Akaashi assured him, eyes darting around to the strangers on the street trying to silently apologize for the inconvenience, “come on, let’s go to your place, then.”  
“Can we? I thought you said you had to be home.”  
Akaashi was getting anxious watching the traffic jam they were creating, and Bokuto still hadn’t moved an inch.  
“Yes, come on let’s go!”  
Akaashi grabbed Bokuto’s arm tightly to him, so as to make the two of them take up as little space as possible, and began to pull him down the street. It only took seconds for Bokuto to match his pace, so he didn’t need to keep pulling him, but for some reason Akaashi kept holding his arm, for some reason Bokuto didn’t shake him off. 

It wasn’t until they were around the corner, in a less busy part of the street, that Akaashi realised how long he’d been touching him. When he did, he dropped the arm quickly and turned a bright shade of red. They both did actually, but at the same time they both turned away to hide that fact, so each thought he was the only one blushing. 

After a second Bokuto coughed, “I think you’ll be good at Mario Kart, Akaashi.”  
Akaashi took a breath, “You do?”

* * *

Akaashi was good at Mario Kart. Obnoxiously so. Bokuto had a feeling he would have a knack for it, but he’d thought they’d at least get through one grand prix before he got the hang of everything. He thought his years and years of playing with his sisters and friends would give him a little more of an advantage against Akaashi’s natural instincts, but by the third race Akaashi was in third place, and Bokuto only beat him in the fourth race because he got hit by a blue shell twenty seconds before the finish line. Bokuto decided one grand prix was enough for Akaashi’s first day.

After that, Bokuto decided to introduce Akaashi to Animal Crossing, which he thought he would enjoy even more. That was how they spent the rest of the evening; Akaashi catching virtual fish and planting virtual trees while Bokuto sat on the couch beside him talking about whatever was on his mind between the little tips on how to remake your watering can, or where to get the item he needed. At one point Akaashi was tempted to lean onto Bokuto’s chest, he was sitting so close and he seemed so comfy. At a different moment Bokuto laid his arm across the back of the couch, behind Akaashi's head and didn't realise how close that was to cuddling until immediately after he did. He spent about fifteen minutes thinking about nothing but how to get his arm back without making it seem awkward.

It was getting late, for a school night at least, when Bokuto’s phone chirped, drawing them out of the, what had now become, hours of Animal Crossing. Akaashi watched Bokuto as he checked the text. It wasn’t the middle of the night by any stretch, it was just past ten, but it wasn’t a normal time to receive a text, in 2011 that is.

"Who's that's?" Akaashi asked, already having to fight back the pangs of jealousy.  
Bokuto had smiled when he opened the text, and he was still smiling as he drafted his response.  
"Oh, just a friend from class," he hit send on his response then turned his phone to show Akaashi his message history, "She texts me almost the same thing every day! Isn't that funny?"

Akaashi could feel a twisting in this gut as he skimmed the texts. He was right, every day, at around this time, she texted him **good night Koutarou-kun ( ◜‿◝ )♡** , or something very similar. Every day Bokuto responded with something like **THANK YOU!!! sleep well :)**.

"I guess she has a really good phone plan," Bokuto continued, "if I texted everyone in the class every day, just to say goodnight, I would be in debt!"  
"I don't think she's texting everyone in the class, Bokuto-san," Akaashi turned his head back to the TV, he hoped catching butterflies would help him tame the one’s in his stomach.  
"What?" Bokuto was inspecting the texts again, "Wouldn't it be weirder if she was just texting me?"  
"She likes you."

The words came out sharp and tense. Akaashi couldn't help it, he felt angry. He was angry at the girl for liking Bokuto, for being confident enough to do something about it, for being better than him. He was angry at Bokuto for not being able to figure that out on his own, for needing Akaashi to explain it to him when that was the last thing Akaashi wanted to do. He was angry at himself the most. For spending so much time with Bokuto that a situation like this was inevitable, for liking him so much that he was setting himself up to be hurt. Somehow he'd thought because he'd giving up on dating, his feeling for his teammate must have grown weaker, but they were much stronger now than ever before and it was Akaashi's own fault.

Bokuto didn't notice Akaashi's tone though. He was too busy staring at the texts he'd received over the last week and a half from this girl. He hadn't even considered that the texts were specifically for him. Akiko had always been really sweet and friendly and he assumed she just said goodnight to everyone, but now that Akaashi had said that, it started to make sense. She did always include a smile, and normally a heart too. She always typed out his name, his given name, even though almost no one at school called him that. Now that he was thinking about it, he sometimes saw her friends watching them and giggling when he talked to her at school. She had a crush on him?

He turned his head to Akaashi, who had returned his attention to the game. Of course he had, it didn't matter to him who liked Bokuto or who Bokuto liked. Not in his mind at least. He must have absolutely no idea how much this concerned him. 

An overwhelming wave of sadness hit Bokuto as he looked back down at his phone. He liked Akiko, objectively she was very pretty, she was sweet and friendly, but none of that mattered. It wouldn’t have mattered if she was the most beautiful girl in the world Bokuto, who had always had room in his heart to love everyone, knew he didn’t have room in his heart to like anyone but Akaashi. He had never felt like this before. His friends used to tease him that he was desperate because he had said on multiple occasions he would probably accept any confession he got. He used to be so excited about the idea of someone liking him, but he just couldn’t anymore.

“I thought you’d be more excited,” Akaashi broke the silence they’d settled into, “You don’t like her?”  
“Oh, uh, no, she’s really nice,” Bokuto told him, “but, um…”  
Akaashi looked at him carefully out of the side of his eye. For a second the thought popped into Akaashi’s head, maybe he’s gay. Wouldn’t that be nice, even if he didn’t like Akaashi right now, he had a chance if he was gay, and it almost sounded like that was what he was trying to say. That’s how Akaashi normally answered those kinds of questions. “She’s nice but I don’t really want to date anyone right now.” “She’s really pretty but I’m not ready for a relationship.” “She’s great but…”  
“I like someone else right now,” Bokuto finished.  
Ah, Akaashi had gotten his hopes too high. Of course Bokuto wasn’t gay, of course the only reason he didn’t like this girl was because he liked some other girl. He’d probably end up dating her, too. Akaashi was ridiculous for thinking just because he wasn’t interested in one girl he suddenly had a chance.  
“A girl!” Bokuto confirmed, in a way that would have been more than a little bit suspicious if the only person listening to him wasn’t too busy spiralling to pay him much attention, “Another girl, from my class, um, she’s actually her friend. You don’t know her.”  
Akaashi just hummed.  
“How do I save this?” He asked Bokuto, looking at the TV screen.   
He was ready to go home.

* * *

After that day Akaashi started limiting his contact with Bokuto. It’s not like he stopped seeing him all at once. They would always have volleyball practice together, and Akaashi still enjoyed eating lunch with him, but he started to emphasise how quickly he needed to get home after practice, how it was more convenient to get to school by himself, how Bokuto should eat with his classmates every once in a while. It wasn’t fun, but he was more in love with Bokuto than he had ever planned to be, and if he wanted to keep his no-crying streak, he was approaching five years that winter, he would have to be significantly less invested by the time Bokuto got a girlfriend.

Bokuto had no idea what was happening, just that he thought he saw Akaashi more often before now. He didn’t seem to be mad at him or anything, and it wasn’t like he was outright avoiding him, but whenever he suggested doing something outside of school Akaashi always seemed to have other plans. Akiko still talked to him a lot in class, and she still texted him often. He almost wished she would just confess so he could turn her down, but he wasn’t going to stop being nice to her, or stop texting her back, that would be rude. 

She didn’t confess though. Not then at least. She continued to talk to him and flirt with him and be kind but she never even came close to confessing. Their relationship just slowly grew closer and closer without Bokuto having any say in the matter. It was awkward, and Bokuto wasn’t awkward about many things. She would always be hanging around him, laughing at his jokes, touching him on the arm. He wouldn’t have minded if he thought it was friendly, but he knew it was more than that and he really didn’t want it to be.

“Koutarou-kun!” she rushed up to him in the halls the first day they came back from winter break, “I missed you!”  
She wrapped him in a tight hug. He chuckled uncomfortably and lightly tapped her back, the closest he would come to returning the hug. Normally he loved hugs, and he was always the one who hugged harder, but this was weird. People were watching.

They had a short conversation in the hall, what they did over break, whether they were ready for school to start again. It was the kind of thing everyone talked about after a break from school, but still Bokuto was conscious of people looking at them the whole time they talked. They walked to class together, it would be weirder if they didn’t, they were going to the same place anyway, but his friends gave him strange looks when they entered the room together.

“Since when are you and Akiko-chan so close?” they asked with raised eyebrows.  
“Oh, we just happened to meet in the halls,” he assured them, but they didn’t look assured.  
Akiko’s friends were no better. Even from across the class Bokuto knew what the girls were talking about, giggling about. It turned out that was just the start, and from that day forward the questions, the jokes, the teasing, the rumours, only got worse by the day. Bokuto didn’t know what to do, she still hadn’t confessed, but it was like they were already dating.

“I’ve heard you’ve got a girlfriend,” Akaashi mentioned casually as they were stretching after practice only a few weeks into the new semester.

He’d heard people talking about it in his class. Though he didn’t have too many close friends, Bokuto was still one of the most popular guys in the school, and the rumours had spread to the first-years almost as quickly as they did to the second-years.   
“You’re on the volleyball team, right?” his classmates had asked him, “I heard the ace started dating someone.”  
Akaashi wasn’t surprised, he’d been waiting for that exact news for months at that point, but it still hurt. He still didn’t want to think about it. His heart was still racing when he brought it up in practice, and he still desperately hoped it wasn’t true.

When Bokuto assured him it was just a stupid rumour, Akaashi was embarrassed by how relieved he was. Even if he didn’t have a girlfriend it didn’t mean Akaashi had any more of a chance. He was supposed to be getting over his feelings, he was supposed to be better now. He was supposed to be ok in this exact situation. That was the reason he’d been keeping himself away from Bokuto wasn’t it? So that he would be able to take it when something like this eventually happened, but he still wasn’t ready.

Akaashi realised if he was ever going to get over Bokuto, he needed to stop hanging out with him all together.

The next morning, Akaashi woke up with a determination to finally cut the cord, to let go of his feelings for Bokuto. He had already planned the whole day. He was going to get to morning practice right on time, not early like he normally did, and he would only respond politely if Bokuto ever tried to start a conversation. He would talk to someone, at least one person, in his class today, if he had other friends he wouldn’t have to rely on his crush so much. He would have lunch in the classroom, even if it terrified him, and he would go home alone right after practice. He was going to do this right, he was going to get over his crush.

By halfway through the day, Akaashi was feeling defeated. Bokuto had been all over him at morning practice, even though he had tried to be as cold as possible, when he tried to talk to his classmates after first period they just stared at him like he was speaking a different language, and after ten minutes of sitting quietly at his desk, he’d decided lunch in his classroom was unbearable, and he left to eat in his old favourite, the western stairwell. On his way there, though, something stopped him. 

It was Bokuto, and a girl. She must be the one everyone thought he was dating. They were in an empty classroom and they looked like they were having a heavy conversation. Akaashi couldn’t help it, he knew it was wrong, knew it went directly against his _get over Bokuto_ plan, knew it would probably only hurt him more, but he stopped by the door to listen.

Bokuto said something Akaashi couldn’t quite decipher. His voice was low and quiet and he was talking in a sort of embarrassed mumble.  
“It’s that first year isn’t it?” the girl’s voice was clearer.  
Akaashi felt his heart lurch. The first year? She didn’t mean him, did she?   
“Um, yeah,” Akaashi could hear Bokuto better now, “his name’s Akaashi.”  
Ok, so they were talking about him. Akaashi’s heart was racing. Why? What were they talking about? Why would his name come up in a conversation between Bokuto and a girl who liked him? He wished he’d heard what Bokuto had said earlier.  
“Pretty name,” the girl huffed out a little laugh, it sounded fake though, “So, you’re gay?”

With that Akaashi had heard enough. Even if he wanted to hear more he wouldn’t have been able to over the sound of his pounding heart. He wasn’t misinterpreting that, was he? That meant, it had to mean…

Bokuto liked him back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These two are so cute <3
> 
> I'm pretty sure the whole stories going to end up being five chapters long, so I hope people are enjoying and will keep reading!


	4. Confessions

Bokuto hadn’t really minded most of the rumours about him and Akiko. He would just tell whoever he was talking to the truth and hope they believed him, but hearing Akaashi say he’d heard the same thing was the last straw for him. He didn’t know exactly why, he was sure he wasn’t going to ask Akaashi out or anything, but he hated the idea of him thinking he was dating someone else. He knew it the second he heard the word “girlfriend” out of Akaashi’s mouth, he had to put a stop to this. He had to tell Akiko how he felt now, even if she hadn’t properly confessed yet.

When they’d finally settled in the unused classroom the next day at lunch, Bokuto was starting to realise how uncomfortable the conversation was about to be.  
“What’s wrong?” Akiko was the first to speak.  
Bokuto didn’t really know what to say. He should have planned more, but he didn’t think it would be that big of a deal. He just had to tell her he didn’t like her. How had he not realised how big of a deal that would be?

It was like a confession, but worse. A reverse confession. He’d never even done a regular one before. How would she react? It was hard for him to believe she really liked him, but all his friends insisted she did, so would she be heartbroken? Would she hate him after this? He really did want her to hate him. He didn’t want anyone to hate him. He’d always wanted to make everyone happy and comfortable, but more than that he really didn’t want Akaashi to think he had a girlfriend. 

“Um, the thing is,” Bokuto started.  
Already Akiko looked sad. Sadder than Bokuto had ever made someone look before, sadder than he ever wanted to make someone look. She must know what he was going to say.  
“Well, I don’t know if it’s true, but people have been saying maybe you like me,” he paused for a second, in case it wasn’t true, in case she wanted to correct him, but she didn’t, “And, well, I just got worried maybe I’m giving you the wrong impression.”  
She didn’t say anything, she just turned her head away from him. Maybe she was hoping he wouldn’t see the tears welling in her eyes. If that's what she wanted he would pretend he didn’t.

“I really like you, I mean, as a friend, but, well, there’s someone else I like right now,” Bokuto didn’t know if anything he was saying was helping but she looked so sad and he couldn’t stop himself from trying to explain, “and I really wish I could like you back, but ever since I met him, I just-”   
She turned her head to look at him, and Bokuto was so surprised he stopped talking.  
“Did you say ‘him’?”  
Oh god, he had, hadn’t he?   
“You,” Akiko wiped her tears, she still looked sad, but apparently this new information was more important, “You like a guy?”  
“Oh, yeah,” he guessed there was no reason she couldn’t know, “I wasn’t going to tell you that part.”  
“It’s that first year isn’t it?”  
“Yeah, his name’s Akaashi.”  
Bokuto couldn’t stop himself from smiling when he said Akaashi’s name.   
“Pretty name,” finally Akiko smiled, even if it seemed forced, then carefully she asked, “So, you’re gay?”

Bokuto paused for a second, before nodding. He’d never said it before, but he’d realised it a little after he realised his feelings for Akaashi, the fact that he’d never felt anything close to that for a girl.   
“Is it bad that that makes me feel a little better?” Akiko laughed, “At least I can pretend if you were straight you’d like me.”  
“I probably would,” Bokuto nodded excitedly, glad she seemed to be feeling better, “You’re awesome! I just, Akaashi’s my whole world,” he didn’t know exactly what he was saying, but he never got to talk about Akaashi, and it was all he ever wanted to talk about, “He’s all I think about. I don’t even know how to stop. Every time I see him smile I fall in love with him again.”  
Akiko huffed another laugh, “Lucky guy.”  
Suddenly Bokuto was reminded he was talking to a girl who he’d just rejected, “Oh my god, I’m so sorry.”  
Akiko smiled, “It’s fine,” she paused, “I hope it works out for you two, Bokuto.”

After that she walked out of the room. Bokuto stayed behind. It went… well, he thought. Maybe it was a little awkward, maybe a little was an understatement, but he had been expecting that. Now he wouldn’t have to worry about her flirting with him, wouldn’t have to worry about rumours spreading, especially to the first year classes. Now he could move on to what was next.  
“I hope it works out for you two.”  
The words replayed in his head. She was talking like they would get together, like they would date. Him and Akaashi. She must have misread the situation.

* * *

At that same moment, the setter was pacing the platform of the western stairwell. He’d tried to sit down, but he was way too restless to stop moving. Bokuto liked him. He was the “someone else”. He liked him. Akaashi liked Bokuto and Bokuto liked Akaashi back. They liked each other. No matter how many times he rolled the thought through his head, no matter how many different ways he rephrased it, he couldn’t grasp it. It couldn’t be true. There was no way.

How long had he liked him? If he was the “someone else” that meant Bokuto must have liked him back when they’d played Mario Kart in fall. That was more than two months ago now. Had he liked him before then? Akaashi felt nauseous. He was happy, of course he was happy he didn’t know if he’d ever been this happy in his life, but this was not how he had seen the day going. This was not what he planned. He woke up that morning certain Bokuto didn’t like him, certain he never would, and suddenly none of that was true.

What happened next? If two people like each other they date, right? Akaashi couldn’t even imagine dating Bokuto. Ok, maybe he could imagine it, maybe he could imagine it more clearly than anything in his life, but it felt like a dream. It couldn’t be real. He’d never dated anyone before, what if he was bad at it? He wasn’t great at expressing his emotions, and Bokuto had these crazy mood swings that, even after almost a year of studying them, Akaashi still didn’t know what to do about. Wouldn’t a boyfriend have to be better at those kinds of things.

Finally Akaashi sat down and gave up on figuring out his feelings. He just let himself smile. Sure he had no idea what he was going to do, what he was doing, but Bokuto liked him. He let the rest of his worries float away and just took a second to appreciate that fact. Bokuto Koutarou liked him back.

When he’d finished his lunch Akaashi had something that sort of resembled a plan. He knew he had to tell Bokuto how he felt, and he decided he would do it as soon as possible. He thought it would probably be best if he did it after practice. He would be too nervous if there were a lot of people around, but he could go for a walk with Bokuto, like they used to, and he was sure he could find a time to do the whole confession thing.

The first time Bokuto looked at him, when he first entered the gym for practice, Akaashi realised how completely unrealistic his plan was. He used to get butterflies sometimes when Bokuto looked at him a certain way, but now that he knew he liked him, those one or two butterflies turned into a massive swarm. It was constant, when Bokuto looked at him, when he looked at Bokuto, when they stood close together, and by close I mean within three metres, all of it sent Akaashi over the edge. He just couldn’t help thinking this guy, this beautiful, charming, sweet, funny, perfect guy, liked him. He could barely think, let alone play volleyball.

When practice ended Bokuto came up to him.  
“Are you doing ok, Akaashi? You seem, I don’t know, off.”  
This was Akaashi’s chance, he just had to ask Bokuto to hang out with him, like they always did.   
“I’m fine,” he responded.  
Next he was going to suggest they walk home together. It would be easy. He was just going to say, “Do you want to walk home together?” Simple. Easy. Literally seven words. He could do it.

He couldn’t do it. Before he knew what was happening Akaashi was walking away, having said nothing more than “I’m fine.” Still, his heart was racing. This was going to be harder than he thought.

* * *

The next day Akaashi was more prepared. He had an entire plan, there was a movie out in theatres that Bokuto had been talking about since the first trailer came out. Akaashi had already texted him asking if he wanted to go that evening, so he wouldn’t have to ask in person, and Bokuto had already said yes. They would go to practice, get food, watch the movie, and then at the end of the night the mood would be perfect and Akaashi would tell Bokuto “I like you”. Akaashi didn’t want to think about what would happen after that. Somehow even knowing Bokuto liked him back, Akaashi had an unreasonable fear that he would be rejected.

When Akaashi got to school he started regretting the plan a little bit. He was so nervous around Bokuto now, and wasn’t what they were doing essentially a date? There was no way he could sit through dinner and a movie with Bokuto as nervous as he was. Especially since it had been weeks since they last hung out outside of school. Maybe Bokuto thought it was weird he’d even asked him to do this. Maybe he’d already gotten over the feelings he’d had the day before, or maybe Akaashi had misheard and he never liked him in the first place.

Akaashi was panicking, but he’d said he was going to confess to Bokuto and nothing was going to stop him now. Plus, he’d already paid for the movie tickets.

The day actually went a lot better than Akaashi had expected. He’d forgotten how much Bokuto could talk, and it was a lot. Through all the walking, eating and waiting for the movie to start, Akaashi had said less than ten full sentences. It took the pressure off him not to be awkward, and it calmed him down to hear Bokuto describe in detail the trailer they’d both seen. At a couple points he almost forgot why he was doing this, he almost forgot that he had to confess later, it was more like he forgot they weren’t already dating.

Bokuto felt sort of the same way. Ever since Akiko had said that thing about it “working out” for him and Akaashi, he’d been thinking about what that would mean. What he wanted, in an ideal world at least. He knew he always wanted to be close to Akaashi, and he never wanted to date someone else. He definitely didn’t want Akaashi to date someone else. There wasn’t much else you could call it, he wanted to be with Akaashi, but he hadn’t really been sure what that would look like.

When Akaashi texted him the night before to ask him to a movie, honestly the whole dating thing slipped his mind. He was just excited to see a movie with his friend. It wasn’t until that day in class when he was telling his friends about his plans and Akiko raised her eyebrow that he realised how close this would be to a date. It was all he thought about from that second on, though. He and Akaashi were seeing a movie. The movie wasn’t until the evening, so they would get food together first. Then it would be late and Bokuto would walk him home under the streetlights. Maybe Akaashi would get cold and Bokuto would offer him his jacket. 

He was sure Akaashi had only asked him there as friends, but maybe there would be a chance to make it into something more. It did feel awfully romantic when Akaashi offered to pay for their meal.  
“No, you can’t, you bought the movie tickets,” Bokuto argued.  
“It’s fine, today’s my treat.”  
Bokuto had planned to fight back more, but the smile Akaashi gave him as he said that hit some reset button in his brain. It was thirty seconds before Bokuto remembered how to speak again.

When the movie finished, it was almost 10 pm. The two boys made their way out of the theatre, Bokuto going on about the ending that he hadn’t expected, the way they’d botched his favourite character, the “easter egg” in the middle Akaashi might have missed. It wasn’t an easter egg, it was a very clear pop culture reference, but Akaashi let him explain it anyway. They stopped on the sidewalk about half a block away from the movie theatre, where there were fewer people around, and faced each other. This was it, this was Akaashi’s moment.

* * *

“Um, Bokuto-san?” Akaashi started, already his heart was thundering like it would pop out of his chest.  
Bokuto met his eyes, “Yeah?”  
There was a slight pause, Akaashi swallowed.  
“I- I wanted to talk to you about something.” 

He was surprised by how hard this was, he’d seen confessions in movies and shows a million times, but what did people normally say? The only things he could think of were the absolute cliches, and even those he wasn’t sure he was remembering right. Everything seemed off, either too gooey and romantic and unlike anything Akaashi would ever say, or too cold, too boring. Nothing he could think to say was good enough. It wasn’t the kind of confession Bokuto deserved.

Bokuto was just staring at Akaashi. His own heart was pounding just as much, and he didn’t even have to do anything. A part of him was scared. Akaashi was sounding like he had yesterday, before he’d rejected Akiko, so the thought occurred to Bokuto that this could be the same thing. Akaashi could have realised Bokuto had feelings for him and was going to shut it down before it got too serious, but he wouldn’t have invited him to dinner and a movie for that. It was much more likely this was a regular confession, as in, Akaashi liked Bokuto back. Bokuto didn’t know how to deal with either possibility.

But Akaashi didn’t confess. After ten seconds of silence he just turned away from Bokuto with a muttered, “nevermind”. He hated himself for it. He knew he needed to say something, tell Bokuto how he felt, that had been the purpose of this whole outing, but he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t just say “I like you”, that was so blunt, so boring, so awkward. He couldn’t say “I have feelings for you”, that felt stiff, overused, and also awkward. He couldn’t say “I have a crush on you”, that was so juvenile and stupid and awkward, again. Basically he couldn’t confess. He didn’t have it in him.

“Wait!” Bokuto grabbed him by the arm and stopped him from walking away, “What were you going to say?”  
Akaashi was still turned away, he knew his face was red. He knew Bokuto probably already had some idea what he had been planning to say. He knew he would probably be happy to hear it. He just had to say something, anything. But he still couldn’t conjure the words.

He wished there was a way he could confess without words. 

But there was, wasn’t there?

Akaashi turned himself to face Bokuto completely. His hand was still gripping Akaashi’s arm, as if he thought he would run off again if he let go even a little. Akaashi stared at Bokuto with a determination that he hoped covered his nervousness. They didn’t move for a moment, until Akaashi put his hand on Bokuto’s arm. He did it softly, gently, and Bokuto softened his grip on the opposite arm in response.

Both of them were breathing deeply as they held the other’s stare. They knew what was about to happen, and neither was fully prepared.

It couldn’t be said exactly who kissed who. Bokuto would forever claim it was him, that he made the first move, but they both leaned in, they both closed their eyes at roughly the same time, and neither of them had any real idea what he was doing. No matter who started it, when their lips met they both felt their heart stop. Akaashi almost pulled away immediately, his heart was beating so fast he thought he would die, but Bokuto placed a firm hand on the back of his neck and held him close.

It seemed from the second they first kissed, Bokuto was addicted. He slowly pulled Akaashi deeper and deeper into the kiss. Akaashi would have objected if he had even the slightest bit of brainpower left, but Bokuto was a good kisser, much better than Akaashi had expected, and he had won over every piece of Akaashi that could be won. Still, they were in the middle of the street, and there were people everywhere, so it only lasted a few seconds before they had to break it.

Even when they broke the kiss, though, they didn’t let go of each other’s arms. They stood inches apart, huffing the breaths they had been too busy to take before. Akaashi was the first to smile, and Bokuto was quick to follow. They raised their lowered heads to meet each other’s eyes again and grinned the way two people in love grin. They’d done it. Whatever it was, they’d done it, and there was nothing left to think about, to worry about, but when they would do it again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I have two final exams that I need to be working on, yes I spent like four hours writing this instead, fight me.
> 
> I'm going to do at least one more chapter, so don't forget about me just because they kissed ^_^
> 
> Thanks to everyone who's reading!


	5. You two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Literally just the fluffiest fluff of all time :P

After a couple seconds of panting breaths and goofy grins, Bokuto spoke carefully.  
“Can I-”  
“No,” Akaashi immediately cut him off.   
He knew what he would have said if he let him finish: “Can I kiss you again?”   
He knew if he’d let him finish it would be harder to say no. Even now he was tempted to take back his answer as Bokuto looked at him with his big, sad puppy dog eyes.  
Akaashi had to turn away, he let his hand drop into Bokuto’s as he began walking down the street. Bokuto was dragging his heels and even though Akaashi couldn’t bring himself to look back at him he knew exactly the expression on his face.

“Bokuto we’re in public,” Akaashi could feel heat spreading on his ears. He tried not to let his voice betray how happy he felt, “There are strangers everywhere.”  
“Who cares about strangers?” Bokuto sulked.  
At this point Akaashi had to turn around. Confirm it was still Bokuto he was talking to. Confirm this wasn’t some kind of joke. Did he really want to kiss him that badly? 

For a second Akaashi was almost swayed. It wasn’t like he didn’t want to kiss Bokuto, and if Bokuto wanted it this much? Akaashi had to snap his head away.   
“You can kiss me when we’re alone,” he mumbled, embarrassed he even had to say it.  
It was enough to cheer up Bokuto though. He immediately stopped sulking and started keeping pace with Akaashi, a bright smile covering half his face.  
“I can?”  
Akaashi couldn’t help but blush. This was one time he really wished his friend could read subtext, because he would be way too embarrassed to admit just how much he would let Bokuto do to him. Instead he just nodded sharply and continued down the street.

“What about at school?”  
Akaashi’s heart was racing. Why was he the only one flustered by this?  
“I mean,” he covered his mouth with his hand as he spoke, he wasn’t sure when he would smile, “I suppose, if there’s no one around.”  
“And at practice?”  
Akaashi looked at him out of the side of his eyes. He looked like a kid at disneyland.  
“Bokuto, we’ll still have things to do. We can’t just kiss all the time.”

Hearing this didn’t hurt Bokuto’s mood. If anything it made it better. He took it to mean, correctly so, that the only thing keeping Akaashi from spending every day kissing him, was prior commitments. The only thing keeping him from kissing him right now was the people around them. Akaashi liked him the same way he liked Akaashi. He thought about him the same way. Wanted him the same way.

“I don’t know about you,” he grinned with a joking shrug, “but nothing I have to do is really that important.”  
Akaashi just glared at him, but Bokuto could tell he was holding back a smile.  
“Not more important than you.”  
Akaashi didn’t respond. He just shook his head in a way that said “you’re so cheesy”, but Bokuto knew the reason he dropped his head. He knew it was to hide his smile.

“So,” Bokuto started again after a few seconds of silence, “does this mean we’re dating?”  
Akaashi almost choked. Bokuto sure was blunt about these kinds of things. It made him wonder why he had to have been the one that first confessed.  
“Well, I think so,” Akaashi was trying his best not to make it obvious how fast his heart was racing, “I mean, if you want to.”  
“Of course I want to! I’m like super into you Akaashi.”  
He waited a second to see if Akaashi would respond, but he was far too embarrassed.  
“Ask Kuroo, he helped me figure it out! I talk to him about you all the time.”  
“Kuroo?” Akaashi’s voice cracked.  
“Yeah, Kuroo! Actually, maybe I should send him a selfie, he told me to let him know when we started dating. I thought he was being annoying at the time, I told him you didn’t like me. Guess he was right though, he said I wouldn’t know unless I asked. Now I wish I had asked, but I was way too scared. You’re kind of scary, you know. I guess it all worked out in the end though.”  
Akaashi’s head was buzzing. Kuroo knew? And Bokuto liked him last summer? And he’d been afraid to confess? For that long?

Suddenly Bokuto squeezed Akaashi’s hand tightly. They were still holding hands, Akaashi had forgotten.  
“Hey,” Akaashi could hear the smile in Bokuto’s voice, “We’re alone now.”  
Akaashi looked up and saw they had walked into a small park. It was already getting late, so the park was almost completely empty. Still, this wasn’t exactly what Akaashi had meant when he’d said alone. He’d meant when they were back at Bokuto’s house or something. Before he could say anything, though, Bokuto had already started kissing him.

It was actually impressive how Bokuto was able to shut off every single thought in Akaashi’s brain with just a kiss. It was better than Akaashi even imagined, and he’d been imagining this since the day he’d first seen Bokuto play volleyball, over a year ago.

* * *

When they arrived outside Akaashi’s building, it was past midnight. The movie had let out just after ten. Akaashi hadn’t planned to be out this long, and his parents were probably sitting on the couch, one lamp on, waiting for him to get home so he could be lectured. Even so, he didn’t regret anything. His parents got mad at him for stupid things all the time, and it wasn’t all the time he got to wander the streets of Tokyo with Bokuto’s hand in his. It was more than worth the chores he would likely be assigned.

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then?”  
“Yes, I’ll see you in,” he looked down at his watch, “Six hours and seventeen minutes.”  
“That long?” Bokuto joked.   
He screwed up the delivery because he couldn’t hold back his smile, but Akaashi still laughed.  
“If we go to school together it’ll be even sooner.”  
“I’ll be here at 6 am sharp, then.”  
Bokuto kissed Akaashi sweetly and turned to walk away.  
“Oh come on,” he turned his head towards Akaashi’s voice, “You can do better than that.”

Slowly Bokuto’s mouth spread into a giant grin and he took a step closer to Akaashi. As if Akaashi’s words inspired him, Bokuto kissed him one more time, more deeply and more passionately than any other kiss over the entire night. When he was finished he gave Akaashi a look as if to ask if that one was good enough. Akaashi tried to cover his smile with his hand, but it showed even more in his eyes.  
“Goodnight Akaashi,” Bokuto said with a smile as he turned down the street once again.  
“Get home safe,” Akaashi called after him.

Akaashi’s eyes followed Bokuto until he turned a corner and disappeared from view. Then, he let himself smile one more time before he turned to his own building. His parents would be suspicious if he came home looking as happy as he did.

Bokuto’s walk back to his place mostly consisted of wishing he had brought his mp3 player. He wanted to sing along to love songs. He felt like a character in a movie, skipping down the streets with his head in the clouds. He wished he could see more stars in the city, he would love to go stargazing. He’d imagined maybe a little flirting, but the day had gone better than he ever could have hoped. Akaashi liked him. They’d kissed. Many times. They were dating.

His sister knew something was up the second he walked in the door, but luckily he was dying to talk about it. He got about three hours of sleep that night, after staying up way too late in his sister’s room explaining every single reason Akaashi was so great and then waking up way too early, overly excited to see him again. 

When Akaashi came out of his building that morning he had a distinct aura of grogginess. Bokuto wondered if his friend got as little sleep as he did. He wondered if it had been the same kind of thoughts keeping him up.  
“You’re early,” he grumbled through a small, sleepy smile.  
Bokuto thought his heart was going to burst.  
“Before I kiss you, let me just make sure, yesterday wasn’t a dream was it?”  
Akaashi huffed a little laugh and wrapped his arms around Bokuto’s neck, pulling him into a sweet kiss. He tasted like toothpaste.   
“It wasn’t a dream.”

They walked to the subway, hands intertwined, Bokuto rambling on about whether or not they would get any snow this winter. He was really hoping they would but it was almost February, so he was worried they had slim chances.

He’d really changed so little since they’d first met. Akaashi remembered the conversation they’d had about the cherry blossoms. They’d just met and Bokuto was so cheerful, so open. He was so completely himself, no matter who he was talking to, no matter what they thought of him. He could have the same conversation with someone he just met that he could have with his boyfriend.

Akaashi had always thought of himself as someone who wouldn’t fall in love fast. He would never relate to the overly trusting, hopelessly romantic, protagonists of romances. He always thought he would be more reserved, need more time, but with Bokuto he felt it happen in an instant. As he walked down the street, hand in his, less than twelve hours since he’d confessed his feelings, Akaashi couldn’t help but imagine a future with him. He couldn’t help but think he wouldn’t mind doing this forever.

* * *

“Honestly, I think I deserve some credit,” it was the first thing Kuroo said when he found out about the couple, outside of the obligatory congratulations and such, “Akaashi I would be willing to accept money, food, maybe a gift basket.”  
“What?” Akaashi laughed.  
“Do you know how much time I spent giving this dumbass advice?”  
He elbowed Bokuto in the ribs, to which he responded, “Hey, I wasn’t that bad.”  
“He called me at 2 am one time,” Kuroo griped, “2 am! He called me like three times because I didn’t pick up the first two, because I was asleep,” Bokuto was starting to look guilty, “Finally I wake up, take the call, you want to know what was so important? You want to take a guess Akaashi?”  
Akaashi’s face was turning red at all the attention, as well as the direction he was sensing the story would take.  
“I don’t know, what?”  
“You posted a picture of you and a girl on your Instagram.”  
Akaashi looked at Bokuto, who was shrinking down sheepishly in the corner.  
“He saw a picture of you and a girl on Instagram and he had to wake me up, in the middle of the night, to cry about it for, like half an hour. Then I get a text the next day like, ‘oh, turns out it was his cousin, lol’.”

Kuroo glared at Bokuto, making him shrink even smaller, but Akaashi couldn’t meet his eyes any more. He remembered posting that photo. He remembered when Bokuto asked him about it. He’d told himself at the time that it didn’t mean anything, but it did. He couldn’t help but feel happy.

“And that’s not the only time,” Kurro started.  
“I think he gets it Kuroo,” Bokuto grumbled.  
“Oh yeah? You sure I shouldn’t tell him about the time-”  
Bokuto grabbed Kuroo’s face to stop him from talking and the two started fighting. It took a second for Akaashi to shake himself from the shock of finding out how much Bokuto talked about him, but when he did he immediately got up and started breaking up the fight.  
“Look all I’m saying is, I better be the best man at the wedding.”  
Bokuto and Akaashi looked at each other, a blush spreading over both their cheeks at roughly the same rate.  
Bokuto coughed, “Who said anything about a wedding?”  
Akaashi laughed and nervously agreed, “Yeah, we’ve only been together for like a week.”  
Kuroo had meant the comment as a joke, but he could easily tell, looking between the two of them, that they’d both thought about it. They seemed like the kind of couple that would always love each other. They seemed like the kind of couple that would last.

I would tell stories from after they got together, but the truth is they were so happy it was boring. They would walk to a convenience store over lunch on a cold but sunny day, Bokuto would point out a bird with a cute song. Akaashi would think his heart was going to explode. Akaashi would get a good grade on a test and Bokuto would do a lap of the school to brag to everyone he knew about his genius boyfriend. They would go to Bokuto’s house to play animal crossing, this time Akaashi not holding back from leaning on Bokuto’s chest. Bokuto casually weaving his hand through Akaashi’s messy hair in response.

They were so happy they were starting to make the people around them unhappy. Akaashi made a few friends through a class he took over summer break, but he almost lost them when Bokuto left for a five day trip with his family and all Akaashi talked about for that five day period was how much he missed him. They weren’t overly annoying to be around, they didn’t act all that differently from when they were just friends, in public at least. They clung to each other closely, but it was somehow comfortable.

It wasn’t interesting, though. Not interesting enough for me to tell stories of it.

They pretty quickly got comfortable with the idea that they loved each other, that if something big didn’t change they probably always would, and that if everything went according to plan this would be their lives, their futures.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Check out my other fics too if you liked this!


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